The start of this academic year saw the introduction of CHSS' new Peer Mentoring scheme! New CHSS students were paired with second- and third-year students who are taking a similar combination of subjects as themselves, so they could have a friendly source of advice and support throughout their first year at university. In this blog post, Olivia Essem, a 2nd year Politics and Sociology student and member of the senior mentoring team for next year, tells us about the scheme.
If you would like to find out about being a mentor or mentee in the next academic year please get in touch with CHSS director Megan Bruce at megan.bruce@durham.ac.uk.
My name is Olivia, I am a second year student, and I peer mentored four students as part of the peer mentoring programme! This was the first year the programme ran but I think it has been really successful.
I volunteered to be a peer mentor because I knew how easy it was to feel lonely as a Combined Honours student. I wanted to help foster more of a community and I believe the programme has been successful in doing this. It strengthened links between year groups and helped freshers meet other freshers with similar modules too! I was lucky enough to know a few older students who I could ask questions when I was fresher, and I wanted to be able to help freshers like I was helped. It’s very easy as a fresher to feel overwhelmed and sometimes you just need the advice of someone who has been there and done it. The mentors have had a huge influence on how the programme has run and we are constantly trying to ensure that everyone gets the most out of it that we can.
I’ve enjoyed peer mentoring this year so much that I’ve volunteered to peer mentor again! I wanted to continue as a peer mentor because it is important to me to help other students with their questions, as I know how it feels to be a fresher with tonnes of questions. The best part is that you get out of this as much as you put into it. I wish this programme had ran when I was a fresher, and I hope it’ll continue to be as successful in the years to come.
